Eternals Among Us: Book one

by Larry W. Miller Jr.

  “Now that sort of thing hurts me. I have been with you since the beginning.” The figure pointed out.

  Marshall was fed up. He put his gun away and grabbed a bar from the door handle. It was about a meter long and weighed enough to be legitimate as a weapon.

  “You’re gonna’ leave me and those kids alone.” Marshall warned and his energy was all negative.

  “I am going to do whatever it is that I do. You have no say in the matter.” The figure replied. “You have no control over me. I am eternal.” He said.

  Marshall blinked. “Eternal? You mean like the tall man?” Marshall asked.

  It was the brother’s turn to be surprised. “You puzzled that out did you?”

  Marshall sensed the momentary weakness and decided to push it to gain some advantage in this seemingly hopeless situation. “He was here at launch.” Marshall pressed.

  “Yes, I remember.” His brother told him. Marshall flinched.

  “Wait, you were there too? The database did not show anyone else still active that was on board during launch.” He protested.

  The figure laughed loudly. “You were in my database. Did you think I would leave myself in it? What’s worse is that you were in it too. Did you bother to look yourself up?” He asked. Marshall had to admit that he hadn’t looked for his own name.

  “No. I didn’t. I mean, I’d know if I was immortal.” He replied, but his sincerity was lacking.

  “You must have forgotten a lot of things. Your wife was not removed because she was a threat to the tall man. She was a threat to exposing you.” He said and Marshall felt his knees weaken.

  “That’s not possible.” He tried to object, but he had no recollection or evidence to support his denial. Additionally, he had no evidence to deny the claim either. It was just frustrating to not know something you were supposed to.

  “You’ve always had memory problems. The system could only do so much for you. You were older than us when you underwent the therapy. Do you know how long ago your wife died?” He asked Marshall.

  “I… It was about ten years ago.” He replied.

  “Seriously, you would know the exact date if your memory was working properly. That is the real problem here, an eternal body with a mortal memory. Things get pushed out to learn new things. I am surprised you bonded to those kids so well. You have nothing in common with them. You are not even from similar generations. Your wife was targeted eighty-seven years ago. You have been running around trying to avenge her murder for almost a century. We hoped that it would burn itself out and you’d forget about it, but alas no.”

  “No. It can’t have been that long ago, I’d remember, I’d…” He faltered.

  “You are one of only a handful of recipients to the therapy. We keep each other safe by keeping each other’s secret. You were about to reveal the tall man’s secret. That could not be allowed.

  Marshall glanced up. “You mean Vincent?”

  The figure nodded. “Exactly. You know the name and could spill it out in your deranged state. In fact, you already have, haven’t you? You told those kids. That is why they must be sacrificed to save you. They now know too much.”

  Marshall felt like someone had pulled the plug on his body. He felt weak, exhausted.

  “How can this all be?” He asked, bewildered.

  “You once knew how things worked around here, but your mind has given way to the ravages of time. You are one of us, but you are also considered a risk. I don’t know what the decision will be, but they are considering your fate even now.” The figure said.

  Marshall had a moment of clarity. “So, when you called me your brother, you meant in therapy. We’re not actually brothers.”

  “This is true. I have tried to watch over you and protect you, but recently you have been even more random than normal. You have become obsessed with something that nobody even knows about anymore. You wife was aging, and you weren’t. How long did you think you had with her?”

  “The rest of my life.” Marshall cried.

  “C’mon, you know that wouldn’t work out. You had good years with her. Get over it and find another one to fill the void in your heart.” The figure said.

  “But the pain.” Marshall was almost in tears. “The loss is just too great.” He said.

  “Your memory will forget her. In that way you are special. You need to let her go though. The more you think about her, the longer it will take to free yourself of the pain.”

  Marshall looked like a cornered animal. “But I don’t want to forget her! I don’t want to let her go. I want her back.” He said and as soon as he said the words, he felt the damnation that came with them.

  “You can never have her back. She is gone and has been for quite some time.” The figure chided.

  “I… I can still remember her. They say that if you remember someone, they are never really gone.” His body language was poor, seeking comfort.

  “I understand what you are going through. I had a wife once. I held her hand as she passed from this life. Then I moved on. I didn’t have the luxury of forgetting like you do. I had to deal with that pain, to face it head on. My memory is perfect and has been for centuries.”

  Marshall looked up from his mental cocoon. “Really, you had a wife too?” He asked timidly.

  “Of course. We need to build families on a colony ship. You can’t do that alone you know.” He replied.

  Marshall lowered his eyes once more. “No, I guess not.” He confirmed. “I… I don’t know if I can do it though.” He replied honestly. “I don’t know if I can let her go.”

  “Vincent knew that this could happen and has taken precautions for you. If you feel that you cannot get over this, just go to these coordinates and press the button. Your troubles will automatically vanish.” The figure told him. “It is entirely your choice.” He added for emphasis.

  Marshall took the offered slip of paper with the coordinates on them. He was not sure what he wanted to do just yet. The figure turned away and left him there. Marshall had found his moment. He had found his pain and his angst and identified it. He felt too weak to handle it alone. He needed help.

  “The kids!” He said to himself excitedly. “I need to save the kids.” He said with enthusiasm. He was off like a shot. If the boy had really turned off his pad device, this could be harder than it was the first time. Actually, he had gotten lucky on that one. He needed to find them before they were found by Vincent’s people.

  Marshall found himself in the channel once more. He was scanning around him as he floated down it. This allowed him to cover great sections of the ship quickly. The problem was he didn’t know how much time he had to find them. How long would it take to inform Vincent where they might be and to have strike teams move into those locations? From experience he knew that it wasn’t very long. Strike teams were meant for more military targets. This would be overkill here. He knew that and he knew that the kids had no weapons to speak of. They would be slaughtered, and all of it to save him! This wasn’t for the tall man anymore. They were killing these kids to protect detective Marshall Faulkner. That was too much to bear. He couldn’t let them die to save his skin. He stepped just inside the channel where he could get his footing once more.

  “Lock? Are you there?” He tried a general broadcast. By rights the kids should not respond to this. He hoped that they wouldn’t.

  “What is it detective?”

  The response was as simple as the original message had been. No overtones, no encrypting messages. It was just a broadcast that everyone could pick up.

  “You are in danger. They will be coming for you.” He sent and then immediately regretted it.

  “Of course, they will…” The mercenary group chuckled at the unexpected response. “Look, you’ve just crossed so many lines that we’ll have to bring you in. Well, unless you run, and we gun you down right here and now.” The mercenary said with a grin. “It’d be a shame to gun down an eternal after all.” He said to show that he knew Marshal
l’s secret.

  “I don’t know what you are talking about.” Marshall protested.

  “Even you with your broken mind aren’t that stupid. You just warned the targets that we were coming. That is a violation of trust beyond excuses, beyond forgiving. That tactical advantage may have been lost.” He said and he pulled the trigger.

  Marshall felt like his insides imploded. The shot caught him in the stomach. He looked down and saw the crimson spot spreading on the front of his shirt. He stumbled backwards and sat down heavily on the floor.

  The mercenary leaned in closer. “I thought you eternals would be harder to kill than that. It could mean that they have less power over me from now on.” He said with a bit of a snicker.

  Marshall felt his inner strength building. He was more than a man now. He was an eternal. It meant that he lived a very long time, sure. But it also meant that he was enhanced. He gazed down at his wound and willed it to stop bleeding. The bullet was still lodged in there, but he would not die from that shot anymore. His shirt was still stained in red, so the mercenary didn’t see anything different. He was still gloating when Marshall quickly stood up.

  “Perhaps you underestimate me sir.” Marshall said as he struck the man with his open hand. The mercenary’s face looked flattened. The bones in his cheek were crushed. He dropped his gun and flopped to the ground, stunned and most likely hemorrhaging. The others in his team leveled their guns to fire and Marshall was no longer there. Moving faster than any person has a right to, he was across the room pulling guns from hands and smashing shoulders. He didn’t want to kill anyone else and was frightened the first man might die from his initial strike. He left the place with mercenaries laying on the floor, holding broken shoulders.

  The wounded mercenary picked up his communication device and held it to the good side of his head. “We’ve got a problem.” He said in slurred speech. His face was not moving correctly due to the damage. “The asset is awake.” He reported and then the pain overtook him, and he passed out.

  Marshall was moving towards the children. His newly discovered abilities even allowed him to sense where they were. He felt like a god. Or a superhero, or something. There was not much he couldn’t do when he felt like this. He sent another message, this one beamed directly at them. There would be no overhearing this time.

  “I am coming to rescue you, stay put.” He demanded.

  He moved like lightning through tunnels. He was taking care not to run anyone over since his speed would seriously injure someone now. But he knew exactly where he was going. The corridors were a blur. The humanity within them was also a blur. He was upon the hatch he needed in a flash and he opened it without preamble. Sure enough, the mother and her daughter were inside, the boy was off to the side looking just as startled as the others.

  “How did you find us this time?” He asked and it sounded more like a whimper.

  “I’ve been, enhanced.” Marshall replied. “I haven’t been truthful to you because I didn’t know the truth. Now that I do, I need to come clean. But you are in danger for knowing me and for knowing Vincent.” He said in a hurry.

  “The tall man? But we are hiding from him even now.” Tina complained.

  “If he has abilities like mine, he already knows where you are. I don’t know. I ‘m just getting up to speed on what I can do now. I feel a bit tired.” He said.

  Mrs. Hull scoffed. “No wonder, you just crossed much of the ship in a matter of two minutes.” She said.

  Marshall felt his eyebrows rise. “How do you know that?” He asked.

  “I’ve been tracking you.” She replied. “The first time you found us, I was concerned that you were able to see through walls. I put a tracker on you.” She informed the detective.

  “That’s impossible, I was never in the room.” He declared.

  “No, you were in the zero-gravity channel. I sent a drone to plant the tracker on you. I have been monitoring your progress through the ship ever since.” She told him.

  Tina looked at her mother. “Why do you have miniature trackers?” She asked.

  “Honey, there’s a lot you don’t know. If you want to stay safe, you cannot learn it.” She replied.

  Tina’s indignity flared. “That’s bull! We’re running and hiding for our lives. If you know something you had better share it with the group!” She protested. “What is really going on here?”

  “Really I can’t tell you. I would love to, but you would no longer be safe if I did that.” Mrs. Hull protested.

  Tina made a gesture encompassing their current location. “Look around Mom, we’re not exactly safe here either. At least armed with the truth, we can work on a solution.” She argued.

  Marshall got over his shock at Mrs. Hull’s revelation. “You can’t tell her.” He put in.

  Mrs. Hull laughed. “Look who’s talking! You were the one that gave them Vincent’s name. You betrayed your kind.” She said. Tina’s mouth fell open.

  “You knew about Vincent?” Tina asked.

  Mrs. Hull’s face turned soft and sweet. “Honey, you can’t ask me that. I’m not allowed to answer you. It pains me to keep things from you, but it is for your own good.” She said.

  Tina held up Lock’s pad and the splash screen was Tina’s picture on her wanted poster. “Yeah, that plan has worked so famously this far, why not just keep me in the dark?” She asked sarcastically.

  Lock remained silent, but it looked like he wanted to speak. He was feeling so much anger at Mrs. Hull’s revelation. They basically had a spy with them, and they were the ones supposed to be spies. He had failed in his task so completely it was laughable. Yet he remained silent, simply brooding with his anger smoldering somewhere underneath.

  Marshall was starting to switch sides. “The girl has a point. Maybe they could come up with something if we told them the situation.” He offered.

  Mrs. Hull turned quickly to face the newly discovered enhanced person in their midst. “Look you, you’ve caused enough problems for me. Don’t tell me how to raise my child.” She scolded.

  Tina was about to cry. “Tell me at least one thing, you are not one of these enhanced people, right?” She asked beseechingly.

  “No, I am not.” Mrs. Hull replied flatly. “I was denied the treatments.” She said and Tina’s eyes went wide.

  “You mean they still do these treatments? I thought this was a banned procedure from long ago.” Lock said. He could no longer remain silent.

  The cat was out of the bag now and they all knew that it couldn’t be put back. Marshall sat down. His memory was still faltering, but some of this he knew.

  “You have to know the right people.” He began. “I… I was one of the originals. I was a test subject. It worked, but on a limited basis. I have the memory of someone like you. One lifetime worth only. Yet I have lived much longer than that. I lose everything after a certain amount of time. It is why I didn’t know how long ago my wife died.” He admitted. A tear rolled down his cheek.

  Tina made a cut-off gesture. “Stick to the topic.” She demanded.

  Mrs. Hull took over. “Look, it is like he said. You have to know the right people and do the right things to get the treatments. You have to prove yourself valuable to the council. I failed in that last part. I had the credits to get the treatment, but they denied me.” She looked at Tina. “You were only a baby at the time. Your father had just died, and I was afraid of leaving you all alone in the universe.” She admitted.

  “Oh my god, will one of you stay on topic?” Tina protested.

  Mrs. Hull held up her hands. “Don’t you see, I wanted to protect you from the start? I met the right people. I pulled the right strings but was still turned down. But my knowledge of them made me dangerous. I had to promise not to reveal their secret under penalty of death. Now that I am telling you this, it might be the end for both of us. The treatment is always an emotional decision. You cannot tell this story without including the human side of it or it becomes meaningless.” She told t
hem all.

  Marshall nodded slowly. “I get that now. I was lost in sorrow. I remember only bits of my life before and those are scattered and random. But the center of my life was my wife. I clung on to her memory like an eagle carrying a fish up to its nest. But I failed to see the human side of the now. That is, until I met you.” He was looking at Tina when he said the last bit.

  Tina had her hands on her hips. “That’s all well and good, but how do we get out of this mess? Running away is not the answer. There is nowhere to run to. The only way we can proceed is the way you wanted, to find your wife’s killer. We have to confront the people responsible. My first order of business is to prove that I am not a murderer. After that, we need to expose the council so that they cannot terrorize anybody else like they are doing to me right now.” She said.

  Mrs. Hull tried to head off her daughter’s tirade. “Honey, it’s not as simple as that. The council is a powerful group of people that will not die, ever, at least not of old age. They have infinite wealth and power. They are untouchable. You couldn’t possibly do anything that would jeopardize that. They hold all the cards.” She tried to explain.

  “Mother, you tried to become one of them. They obviously have people they allow in. One of those could just as easily crack as the council itself. We don’t need to dissolve the power base, only to expose the abuse of power that has been going on. Somebody is deciding who lives and who dies. Does any governing body deserve that kind of power?” She asked finally.

  Mrs. Hull’s eyes lowered. “I guess not.” She replied softly. “I’m just afraid of losing you.” She added.

  “There is little else we can do but to hit this thing head on. They are not giving us any other choices. So, the real question right now is, where do we strike first? Who has the information we need? The longer we wait the harder this will be to pull off. I don’t fancy our chances if we hit them right now. Waiting only makes that worse.” Tina explained.

  “The data is in a public place called the archives. It is not entirely complete, but it does contain information that would illustrate the criminal nature of our hidden government.” Marshall said. He sounded defeated already. “Of course, by telling you that, I just put myself on the hit list.” He pointed out.